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Friday, 7 February 2014

Upgrading ICT Facilities at State Universities
By Bernard Sinai on June 17, 2013

Treasurer and acting Minister for HERST, Don Polye

Over the past few months, I have received many appeals from students, academics, and management at our State universities for better facilities to support their learning and teaching.

Their message is that State universities must participate more strongly in educating students and preparing graduates for the 'knowledge society.'

These universities include: University of Papua New Guinea, University of Technology, University of Goroka and University of Natural Resources and Environment. State universities contribute significantly to the human resource requirements of the country with total enrolments of over 4,000 annually.

It is clear that all the State universities have immediate unmet needs for better Information and Communications Technology (ICT). These needs include upgraded internet access, bandwidth, computing and communications facilities.

I recognise that recent student unrest have been driven in no small measure by students' unhappiness with poor ICT facilities that are hindering their ability to learn effectively.

I therefore intend to see what can be done to address these immediate needs, once I have made an assessment of the Mid Term Financial Budget Outlook, due in July 2013.

As Minister responsible for the Treasury and as Acting Minister for Higher Education, Research, Science and Technology, if I find there are budget savings or unexpected windfalls, I commit to funding for improved ICT facilities at State universities.

Our State universities need these upgraded facilities to help students learn more quickly, more independently and more widely.

Development of our human resources is a pressing concern and urgent need in Papua New Guinea. Fast, modern communications are vital to ensuring we can participate in and benefit from global flows of information and ideas.

About Me

Committed to making a real difference by leading positive change in higher education.

For over 10 years
from 1993-2004, I worked in Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean
in the field of environmental and sustainable development policy, and
environmental economics. My research interest is the role of technology and private business in the development of countries.

As an academic I have 17 peer review publications in various humanities and social sciences disciplines, supervised 5 PhD students and 18 Masters thesis.

As a consultant I worked as head of the environmental
studies department of SIDE, S.A. a consultancy company with
office in Mexico City, San José, and Lima I worked closely together
with many government organizations and private companies. For the World Bank’s Economic Development Institute I carried out two regional studies on sustainable development policies. For the European Commission I wrote one report on corporate social responsiblity, and one on the green economy for the European External Action Service.

Currently, I am Vice-Chancellor or Chief Executive Officer of the Papua New Guinea University of Papua New Guinea, in Lae.